Assemblymember Chris Holden: Support the California Values Act!

As students, activists, and residents of Claremont, we urge you to support SB 54, or the California Values Act, by giving it your vote. We congratulate you on your recent election – we are proud to be represented by a genuine progressive in the State Senate. We hope that you will affirm your commitment to a progressive California by supporting SB 54, a bill that will take crucial measures to protect our immigrant communities.

Over the last two months, the Trump administration has taken steps towards a policy of mass deportation. The amount of ICE officers is supposed to triple to fifteen thousand, and the categories of undocumented immigrants classified as “priorities for removal” were drastically expanded. We are afraid that mass deportation will soon spread to our community. Undocumented children attend Claremont public schools; undocumented families live in Claremont homes; undocumented parents work in Claremont businesses; and undocumented students attend the Claremont Colleges. Claremont - and indeed, California as a whole - has always been home to refugees and immigrants alike, and we want the state to support these residents in concrete ways. SB 54 would go a long way towards doing that.

While Claremont Police Department has had an unofficial policy of non-cooperation with ICE, there are still many ways that undocumented Claremonters can be delivered to ICE by state and local authorities. For example, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department still has a 287g agreement with ICE, in which law enforcement officers are deputized to enforce immigration law themselves. In Los Angeles County, ICE is still able to interview county jail inmates to investigate immigration status. If undocumented Claremonters are arrested in either of these counties, and charged with even a misdemeanor, they can come into contact with ICE and therefore be put at risk for deportation. SB 54 would change these policies and help ensure that undocumented Claremonters remain safe.

This is an incredibly pressing national and state issue that affects your constituents in powerful ways. We do not want our state spending limited resources in service of deeply unjust immigration policies that endanger our communities. We therefore urge you to support SB 54. California must strongly demonstrate its opposition to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and deportation. Thank you for listening to our voice.